Bhojeshwar Temple

Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh


Square and simple in design, this 1000-year-old Hindu temple – built by Bhopal's founder Raja Bhoj – doesn’t look much from the outside, but the interior of its sanctum, supported by four gargantuan pillars and housing a large Shiva lingam, is very powerful indeed. A stony ramp round the back evidences how huge pieces of rock would have been moved into position on the temple’s 5m-high platform.

To the side, etchings on fenced-off rocky areas show grander plans for a temple complex that was never finished.


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